Matrix-making and type-setting machine



' (N0 Moole1.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

- .H. LEE.

MATRIX MAKING AND TYPE SETTING MAGHINB.

Patented Mar. 20, 1894.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet" 2.

H. LEE. MATRIX MAKING AND TYPE SETTING MACHINE.

N0. 516,742. Patented Mar. '20, 1894.

; ZZZ/6712 37" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

HOMER LEE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRIC TYPO- GRAPHICCOMPANY OF WEST VIRGINIA.

MATRIX-MAKING AND TYPE-SETTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 516,742, dated March20, 1894.

Original application filed April 16 1889, Serial No. 307,469. Dividedand this application filed October 9, 1890- Serial No. 367,502- (Nomodel.)

To alt whom it may concern.-

Be It known that I, HOMER LEE, a citizen of I the United States,residing at New York city,

' ting Machines, fully described and represent ed in thefollowingspecification and the accompanylng drawings, forming a part of the same.

My invention relates to that class of machines in which a line of type,either male or female, is composed and then used, it male,

elther-to printaline of matter or as a die from whlch to make a matrix,or,if female, as a matrlx from which to cast a printing bar. Among themachines of this class are matrix-making mach nes, typewriting machines,typesetting and distributing machines, and printing bar castingmachines, and it will be understood that my invention is applicable toall of these and generally to all machines in which type,

either male or female, are composed in any desired quantity.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction of those partsof this class of machines by which the type are brought into position inthe process of com position and use, and to this end my inventionconsists of various constructions and combinations of parts all of whichwill be particularly described in the following specification andpointed out in the claims.

While my invention is of general application in the many varieties ofthe class of ma- I chines referred to, the mechanism in which it hasbeen embodied was designed particularly for that variety in which thetype are carried by bars adapted to move longitudinally to bring thetype to the'composing space, and the invention will be illustrated anddescribed in connection with such a machine. In this variety of machinesthe type bars have been arranged transversely of the machine in sets ofa single character where they are held by detents and successivelyreleased by pins or lugs on delivery shafts connected to a carriagewhich is caused to travel transversely of the machine simultaneouslywith the pro gross of the composition of the line, the deand the typealready composed as they are assembled, the type bars have been given aslight bend laterally forming a shoulder, and the type bars have'beenguided between two sets of pins so that the shoulder as it passes thefirst set of pins will cause the" type to be deflected outward from theline of type, and as the type passes into the composing space theshoulder will be acted upon by the second set of pins and cause thereturn of the type inward to its proper position in the line. It hasbeen found, however, that it is difficult to thus cause a completereturn of type to its place in the line, and I avoid this diffioulty byproviding an incline which serves to guide the advancing type into thecomposing space, and into its proper positionin the line; Thedistribution of the type after composition and use has been efiectedheretofore in some of these machines by means of movable distributingbars adapted to engage with hooks or projections upon the type bars, thedistributing bars being operated by power to distribute the type bywithdrawing the type bars from the composing space until they arereturned to their normal positions.

I It is sometimes desirable to operate the machines for a number ofrevolutions without distributing the type so that a number ofimpressions may be taken from the same line of male type,or a number ofprintingbars may be cast from thesame line of female type. I provide-torthis duplication by-making the connections between the distributing barsand the operating mechanism of such a char acter that these bars may atany time be disengaged from the operating mechanism by the interruptionof the connections so that grammatic sectional side elevation of amachine of the special variety referred to, showmg such parts as arenecessary for understanding the present invention. Fig. 2 is a similarfront view of a portion of the machine. Fig. 3 is a section on the line3-3 of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is a detail of the underside of the detachable connections for the distributing bars.

Referring to said figures A,B, are the side frames of the machine inwhich the sets of type are supported in frames 0, each of which carriesone or more sets of type and type bars.

D is the platen or impression table having a limited impressionmovement, E the rest bar upon which the type are assembled in theprocess of composition, and F the abutment block by which assembled typeare locked in position upon the rest bar.

The type 1 are carried by type bars 2 which are formed of slightlyflexible metal and are each provided with a shoulder 3, formed by alateral bend or deflection in the type bar and with a hook or projection4.. These type bars are arranged in sets in the frames 0, the bars ofeach set side by side and preferably overlapping the type of adjacentsets as shown in Fig. 1. All the type bars are arranged radially withreference to the rest bar, and slide longitudinally freely in the frames0, being guided between. guiding pins 5, and secured in cross bars ofthe frames. The type bars are held normally in their raised positions bythe friction of detents 6 pressed against the type bars by small springs'7 and withdrawn to release the type bars by lugs 8 one of which iscarried by each delivery shaft 9. A delivery shaft is provided for eachset of type bars, and as explained above these shafts move transverselyof the machine as the composition progresses, and are operated by keysas usual in this class of machines. Upon the release of atype bar it isadvanced by gravity toward the composing space and at each side of thecomposing space is an incline 10, by which the type are guided intoposition in the line being composed.

It will be understood that all the type bars of each set carry the samecharacter, so that as the lugs on the delivery shafts follow theprogress of composition, the appropriate key will operate a deliveryshaft to release that one of the set of type which is in the properposition to pass into the line being composed.

It will readily be seen that, as a type bar is released and advaricedtoward the compos-n ing space, the shoulder 3 striking a pin 5 of thefirst or outer series of guiding pins throws the outer end of the typebar to the left thus moving the type to the right so that it will escapecontact with the type in other sets, and, as the type reaches the restbar the shoulder A; striking a pin of the several or J inner series ofguiding pins throws the type bar toward the left, tending to carry theadvancing type against the type last set. The

proper positioning of the type in the composing space is assured by theincline 10, the successive type beingguided inwardly by engagement withthe incline. It is evident that this incline may be used in machines inwhich type bars are not employed, and in type bar machines in which thebars are not provided with the lateral bend as above described, and thistype directing incline acting on a plurallty of type, and directing theadvancing type directly into the composing space forms a part of theinvention independently of these features, and is claimed broadly.

For the purpose of distributing the type the following construction ispreferably employed: The side plates A, B, are provided with a series ofslots extending radially to the rest bar, one slot for each set of type.In these slots move distributing bars 12 formed by thin plates or smallrods of metal adapted to engage the hooks 5 on the ends of the typebars. These distributing bars 12 are carried in slots 13 formed indistributing bar carriers 14. These carriers consist of two curved barsextending from front to rear of the machine and slotted longitudinallyto receive the ends of the distributing bars which move freely in theslots. The carriers move in slots 15 in plates G, H, forming front andrear plates of the machine. The front ends of the carriers are connectedby tie rods 16, and each of the carriers is provided with a roller 17which travels upon the inside of the plate Gso that the carriers willreadily move upward through the slots 15 when operated for distributionby the mechanism now to be described. The rear ends of the carriers arebent inwardly toward each other and are connected by means of a bolt 18.Pivoted to each side of the machine is an arm 19, these arms extendingto the rear of the machine, and being bent inward at their rear endswhere they are connected by a head 20, these arms being raised andlowered by a cam 29 carried by the operating shaft I of the machine, andacting upon a lever 30 connected to one of the arms 19 by a rod'31. Thebolt 18 is detachably connected to the head 20 as follows: The head isprovided on its under side with a recess in which lies the bolt 18, thebolt being retained in the recess by a catch 23 pivoted to the head.This catch has on its lower side a lateral projection 24 to which ispivotally connected a. rod 25, the outer end of which passes through ahole in the arm 19, and is pressed rearward by a spring 26 so as tonormally hold the catch 23 in position upon the. lip 27 on the underside of the head, as shown in full lines in Fig, 1,thus locking the bolt18 securelyto the head. A cord 28 is secured to the outer end of theprojection 24 on the catch and extends into reach of the operator, sothat, when it is desired to disengage the bolt and distributing barcarriers from the head, a pull upon the cord draws the catch into theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, against the tension of spring26, thus releasing the IIO carriers, and allowing the arms 19 to beraised by the connections with the shaft 1 without distributing thetype. On the release of the cord, the spring 26 closes the connections.It is evident that this construction affords a very simple andconvenient means for throwing the distributing mechanism out ofoperation, so that the other movements of the machine may be continued,and any number of matrices or printing bars produced from the same lineof assembled type and without the removal of the line from theimpression space.

While I have shown my invention as applied to a particular variety ofmachines, and have described and shown but one form of distributingmechanism and means for securing duplication by interrupting theoperating connections of the distributing mechanism, it will beunderstood that my invention is equally applicable to other varieties ofmachines, and thatthe construction shown forms but one of many which mayreadily be devised by one skilled in the art.

In the machines of the general class above referred to, it is usual toemploy adjustable spaces by which the line may be justified, thesespaces being advanced to the composing space and distributed in the samemanner as the letter type, or by any other suitable means. By the termtype employed in the claims I intend to cover blank or space type, orjustifiers, as well as letter type.

This application forms a. division of my application Serial No.307,469,filed April 16, 1889.

It will be understood that bythe term impression mechanism used in theclaims, I intend to cover also casting mechanism or other mechanism bywhich the line of type is utilized.

What I claim is- 1. The combination of type normally held at a distancefrom the composing space, and an incline acting on a plurality of typefor directing the advancing type directly into the composing space,substantially as described.

2. The combination of type normally held at a distance from thecomposing space, and advanced toward the composing space by gravity oran equivalent force when released,

and an incline acting on a plurality of type for directing the advancingtype directly into the composing space, substantially as described.

3. The combination of type, type bars to which the type are attached,said type bars being adapted to move longitudinally toward the composingspace, and an incline acting on a plurality of type for directing theadvancing type directly into the composing space, substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination of type, type bars to which the type are attached,said type bars moving longitudinally toward the composing space, meansfor causing the bars as they ad- Vance to take an oblique course toavoid other the composing space, said bars being bent laterally so as totake an oblique course as they advance between the guides, and anincline for directing the type into their proper posi tions in thecomposing space, substantially as described.

6. The combination with type and means for assembling them in line, ofmechanism for removing the type from the spacev in which the assembledtype are used constructed to be thrown into and out of operation,substantially as described.

7. The combination .with type, means for assembling them in line,mechanism for removing the type from the space in which the assembledtype are used, a power shaft, connections between said mechanism and thepower shaft whereby the type are caused to be removed from said spacefor distribution by the revolution of the shaft, and means for renderingsaid mechanism inoperative at the will of the operator so that the powershaft may revolve without causingthe removal of the type, substantiallyas described.

8. The combination of type, means for assembling them in line, animpression mechanism, and mechanism by which the type are removed fromthe impression space for distribution constructed to be thrown into andout of operation independently of the impression mechanism,substantially as described.

9. The combination with the type and type bars, of distributing bars 12engaging the type bars for distribution, distributing bar carriers 14,power shaft I, operating connections between .the carriers and shaft,and a spring catch for disengaging said connections, substantially asdescribed.

10. The combination of type, type bars to which the type are attached,means for assembling the type in line, mechanism for retracting the barsto distribute the type, a power shaft, connections between thedistributing mechanism and power shaft whereby the type are caused to bedistributed by the revolution of the shaft, and means for interruptingsaid connections at the will of the operator so that the power shaft mayrevolve without causing distribution, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HOMER LEE; Witnesses:

O. J. SAWYER, J. J. KENNEDY.

